Researchers in Guangzhou, China, tested whether giving very premature babies a single infusion of their own cord blood cells in the first day of life could help prevent a serious lung condition called bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or BPD. Five years later, the children who received the cells scored…

Very premature babies lose body heat quickly, so delivery-room teams wrap them in plastic to keep them warm. An Italian study of 354 very premature babies tested whether drying a baby with a warm towel first helps more babies reach the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at a healthy temperature…

Researchers in the Netherlands compared premature babies cared for in a unit where parents could stay day and night and take on much of their baby's daily care with babies in traditional units where parents could visit but not stay overnight. After allowing for the fact that the babies in the…

Some sick newborns are helped to breathe by a machine that delivers tiny, very fast breaths, called high-frequency oscillation. Three new studies looked at it: one found a modest, uncertain hint of fewer lung problems in premature babies, one found both machine types improved circulation in…

Breast milk contains special sugars that babies cannot digest but that help their gut and immune system. In a small randomized study of 42 premature babies in three hospitals in Columbus, Ohio, researchers gave some babies one of those sugars, called 2′-fucosyllactose (or 2′-FL), and gave the…

Researchers in 2026 asked whether very hot or very cold weather during pregnancy is linked to babies arriving early, and whether a mother's surroundings relate to how extremely premature babies do in intensive care. Both extreme cold and extreme heat were linked to earlier birth, and cold, little…

Intraventricular hemorrhage, or IVH, is bleeding inside the brain's fluid-filled spaces that can happen in babies born very early. Three new studies looked at what makes it more likely, whether doctors can predict it, and how hospitals might prevent it. They suggest that steroids before birth and…

Four 2026 studies tested chatbot-style artificial intelligence on newborn care tasks: exam questions, parents' questions about home light treatment for jaundice, leaflets about home oxygen, and videos of heel-prick tests. The tools often did well, sometimes remarkably so, but some made worrying…

Making enough milk is often harder than anyone expects when a baby is born very early. A German study of 15 neonatal units found that structured breastfeeding and pumping support helped about 11 more babies per 100 go home fed only on their mother's milk, with no sign of added harm. A review of…

A 2026 study from four hospitals in New York followed 128 children who were born a few weeks early, at 35 or 36 weeks of pregnancy, to see whether low blood sugar in their first day of life affected how they were developing at around 18 to 24 months. Babies whose blood sugar had dipped low, and who…

Two hospital teams recently tested ways to make sleep safer for babies who spend time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). In Houston, changing the beds, the daily routines and the reminders raised the average share of the five safe-sleep habits being followed from 58% to 91%. In Chicago…

Hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are loud places, and that noise can be hard on a baby whose hearing and brain are still developing. But new research also suggests that babies born early need to hear human voices, especially their parents', and that a quiet room is not automatically a…